Dabbling elsewhere?

I confess, I’m cheating on this blog with another blog. I started documenting some of my photography endeavors in another blog as part of a school project, as well as for my own personal fun.  I’m not doing very well at all but luckily, we’re not getting graded on effort.

I can’t decide if I want to use that blog just for the duration of the project, continue using it as a photography only blog while maintaining this one as a lifestyle blog, or just stop blogging here and transition over completely to the other blog as an everything kind of blog.  So many decisions!

In the meantime, come check out my other blog.

Luxury goods

Yup, I’m still lusting after things I can’t exactly buy right now.

source (this also comes in a gorgeous tan for those not bold enough for orange)

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And some luxury for the man in your life:

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It must be the lack of sleep that’s making me delirious for beautifully overpriced items.

http://www.gucci.com/us/us-english/us/spring-summer-10/handbags/#0-1141644-232955AHB1N8102sour

Banff National Park

I guess I’m on a roll with my stroll down travel memory lane.  Here are some pictures from a trip I took to to Banff National Park in Canada back in 2006.  It was so beautiful – I wish I had taken more pictures!

To be honest, I thought a trip to Canada was going to be kind of boring.  I realized how wrong I was once we got there.  We spent a few days in Vancouver so I got to indulge in some urban-ness before we were whisked away to the quiet serenity and breathtaking beauty of the Rocky Mountains.  I loved it!  I hope I’ll get to go back with Jeff someday – I think he’d really enjoy it.

Window shopping online

I haven’t had the budget to shop much (more) lately but that doesn’t stop me from looking.

Sculpted jewelry tree

BCBG Striped Jersey Dress

BCBG Floral Drape Dress

BR Silk Ruffle Wrap Dress

BR Floral Print Cowlneck Dress

J. Crew Flower Headband

Long Grey Bead Necklace

Silvertone Earrings

Gap Drape Front Cardigan

More pictures of Dubai

Sand art

Inside the Burj Al Arab

Taking a boat out to Telegraph Island in the Musandam peninsula – definitely one of the funnest excursions of the trip!  We got to see dolphins and snorkel out in the Arabian sea.  It was pricey but definitely worth it.

A mosque in Abu Dhabi – the day in Abu Dhabi was not particularly interesting.  Musandam was definitely better.

Of course I took pictures of the food!  The kebabs there are delicious.

I got a huge kick out of the McArabia sandwich at McDonald’s.  They were really yummy!

Dubai was definitely a wonderfully unique experience.  I hope that wasn’t the peak of Dubai – if/when the economy ever fully recovers, I think this place might be even more amazing than what I saw in 2007!

Sunday afternoon at the Getty Center

This was actually my second visit to the Getty Center but Jeff’s first visit.  We’ve been talking about visiting the Getty Center since before we moved here, so it’s about time that we made it!  It only took us 4 years in the Bay Area before we finally decided to go to the Hakone Gardens, Tomales Bay, De Young Museum, Santa Cruz…and we only started going because we knew we were leaving.  The Leonardo Da Vinci exhibit was pretty cool but they wouldn’t let us take any pictures of it.  Still, the architecture makes for some amazing photos.

Next stop – Getty Villas in Malibu!  Let’s hope it doesn’t take us another 7 months to get ourselves there.  We’re being ambitious and hoping we can go before we head up north for the summer.

The Time Traveler’s Wife

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What a beautiful movie!  It totally made me teary-eyed – I’m so glad I made Jeff watch this movie with me.  This is definitely not the type of movie you should watch alone at night by yourself.  Now I want to read the book – I wonder if it’ll be completely different?

Vanilla Bakeshop

More cupcakes!  Yes, I admit that my sweet tooth is excessive.  Here are the vanilla bean chocolate and mocha chocolate cupcakes:

It was a bit rich but still yum, although I will admit that I am getting tired of cupcakes.  *Gasp* I know, it’s blasphemy.  I think I’m into cakes more these days versus cupcakes.  I love that the cakes at Doughboys and Cake House are light and fluffy with delish frosting, as opposed to the texture of cupcakes, which are usually less soft and more rich.

Still, any day that I can get a cupcake is still a good day.

Dubai

For some reason, my wanderlust has also made me reminiscent of some of my past travels.  Here are a few pictures from my trip to Dubai in 2007:

The famous Burj Al Arab – We spent 85 euros per person to have afternoon tea there.  The food wasn’t great and the wait staff wouldn’t let us take pictures out of respect to the guests.  Boo…I looove taking pictures of food!  Still, this was the most cost effective way to get a peek into the Burj – you can’t just waltz into the place for free.  Craziness!

I got a kick out of seeing Arabic Aquafina.

We got to ride camels in the desert…who-hoo!

The lovely and decadent gold souk.  Lucky for Jeff I don’t wear gold so I didn’t buy anything.

Indoor skiing at the mall…the slope was more of a bunny hill but I was still pretty impressed.  They managed to keep it soooo cold inside.  My nose turned blue!

I have sooo many more pictures…it’s definitely one of the more exotic places I’ve visited.  A lot of the construction I saw taking place in 2007 has been stopped – I wonder how different it looks now?

Our next vacation

I know I just got back from Argentina a month ago but I’m already thinking about our next trip.  We’re probably going to Taiwan in early September so I figured that would be a good excuse to take a trip to visit somewhere else in Asia for a few days.  I’m not sure if it will be safe to visit Thailand by then so I’m thinking about Hokkaido, Singapore, and/or Malaysia.  I really don’t know much about any of these places so I’d really have to do my research to see what might pique my interest.  Still, how amazing is this view of Singapore?

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Any hints or suggestions?  Send them my way!